Associations Submit Draft of National Leafy Greens Program to USDA

A group of produce industry associations representing leafy greens producers nationwide have submitted a draft national leafy greens program to USDA. The petition formally requests that the agency create a national marketing agreement for leafy greens, similar to the California leafy greens program created following the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in 2006.

“The next step is for USDA to say it’s a go,” said Paul Simonds, communications manager for Western Growers Association, one of the supporting groups. “This is literally square one. It’s the industry reaching out to USDA and getting the ball rolling.”

Public hearings on the proposal could begin as early as this summer, Simonds said.

The groups supporting a national marketing agreement include Western Growers, United Fresh Produce Association, Produce Marketing Association, Georgia Fresh Vegetable Association, Georgia Farm Bureau, Texas Vegetable Association, Arizona Farm Bureau, Leafy Greens Council, California Farm Bureau, California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, and the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California.

The goal of the program is to increase consumer confidence in the safety of leafy greens through verifiable good agricultural practices that are based on the best scientific information.

“A national marketing agreement would bring some much needed clarity and consistency to the myriad, often conflicting and occasionally confounding food safety requirements now being imposed on leafy greens producers,” said Bob Whitaker, chief science officer for the Produce Marketing Association. “As a former producer myself, I know how much this focus would be appreciated by the producer community.”

The California agreement represents about 99 percent of the leafy greens production in California. Arizona already has adopted a program similar to California, and combined the two states represent about 90 percent of the U.S. leafy greens production.

“We are pleased this process is now at a stage that allows stakeholders from across the country to provide comments and recommendations on how best to develop a national leafy greens marketing agreement that can provide a strong science based framework to improve the quality of U.S. and imported leafy green products,” said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for United Fresh.

A copy of the draft agreement is available at www.nlgma.org.